SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, Reuters reported, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites on the vehicle's 14th test flight after one of its six upper-stage engines failed roughly two and a half minutes into the mission. The Super Heavy booster ignited all 33 of its engines at 7:48 a.m. CT from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, sending the 40-story vehicle over the Gulf of Mexico before Starship separated and continued alone toward orbit. SpaceX's live stream initially reported the mission could not reach…

SpaceX's Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, Reuters reported, deploying 26 Starlink V3 satellites on the vehicle's 14th test flight after one of its six upper-stage engines failed roughly two and a half minutes into the mission. The Super Heavy booster ignited all 33 of its engines at 7:48 a.m. CT from SpaceX's Starbase facility near Brownsville, Texas, sending the 40-story vehicle over the Gulf of Mexico before Starship separated and continued alone toward orbit. SpaceX's live stream initially reported the mission could not reach…

The 2026 Russian legislative election to select all 450 seats of the State Duma (the lower house of parliament) ended on 20 September with President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party securing 57.83% of the vote. Given the State apparatus to ensure a positive result for Putin, the number might look on the lower side than many would expect, but it translates into a record-breaking 355 out of 450 seats in the Duma in an election that was framed largely as a referendum on Russia’s ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine.…

Europe is currently benefiting from the closed arbitrage between the U.S. Gulf Coast and Asia and is taking more LNG supplies in possible relief from concerns about winter gas supply. The Atlantic-Pacific arbitrage is closed for the rest of this year, due to high shipping costs, and this has led to a redirection of most U.S. spot cargoes toward Europe, where the freight costs are much lower. Over the past month, Europe has been drawing more LNG cargoes away from Asia, and deliveries to Europe have been only 4% lower than a year ago, compared to…

Europe is currently benefiting from the closed arbitrage between the U.S. Gulf Coast and Asia and is taking more LNG supplies in possible relief from concerns about winter gas supply. The Atlantic-Pacific arbitrage is closed for the rest of this year, due to high shipping costs, and this has led to a redirection of most U.S. spot cargoes toward Europe, where the freight costs are much lower. Over the past month, Europe has been drawing more LNG cargoes away from Asia, and deliveries to Europe have been only 4% lower than a year ago, compared to…

Donald Trump gave Xi Jinping the full state-visit treatment in Washington, but markets were more interested in what the two leaders did not deliver. After three days of ceremony, an unusually warm presidential welcome and repeated pledges to stabilize relations between the world's two largest economies, the main economic outcome was a two-month extension of the existing U.S.-China trade truce, pushing its expiration from November 10 to January 10, 2027. That averted an immediate return to escalation, but fell short of the longer runway many investors…

State-owned QatarEnergy has extended the force majeure on LNG deliveries to Asia and Europe by another month through the end of November, as LNG cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked amid the protracted U.S.-Iran stalemate over the chokepoint and pathways to end the war. Qatar’s energy giant, which was the world’s second-largest LNG exporter before the war, has notified customers in Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as at least one buyer in India and Italy’s Edison that the force majeure on deliveries…

State-owned QatarEnergy has extended the force majeure on LNG deliveries to Asia and Europe by another month through the end of November, as LNG cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains largely blocked amid the protracted U.S.-Iran stalemate over the chokepoint and pathways to end the war. Qatar’s energy giant, which was the world’s second-largest LNG exporter before the war, has notified customers in Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as at least one buyer in India and Italy’s Edison that the force majeure on deliveries…

Russian drone strikes killed at least four people in Ukraine overnight and into September 27, including one person in the capital, Kyiv, and three in the southeastern Zaporizhzhya region, Ukrainian officials said. In Kyiv, a man was killed when a Russian drone struck a nonresidential building in the Solomyansky district, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. A fire broke out at a car-repair facility in the same district, while another nonresidential building was hit, the agency said. It shared images showing firefighters battling fires at the…

The Trump Administration is touting the new oil order in Venezuela as a tremendous opportunity for reviving the industry in the world’s biggest crude oil resource holder. The U.S.-led restructuring of the sector kicked out Russian and Chinese companies out of previously awarded concessions, and spurred a flurry of oil deals with oil majors, the biggest oilfield service providers, and relatively unknown newcomers—all with the purpose of boosting Venezuela’s oil production and exporting a large part of it to the United States. The…

The next global energy crisis is just around the corner. If the past four years have taught us anything, it’s that an energy crisis can be brought about unexpectedly and by a number of factors – often in tandem. Changing weather patterns, increased grid stress, geopolitical tensions, and conflict have converged in different ways in different moments to send global energy markets into extreme volatility and have caused sweeping blackouts even in some of the world’s most developed nations, such as the grid collapse across Spain…

“A fraction of proposed data centers will get built. Utilities are wising up.” That was the headline on a May 2025 Utility Dive article that explored the conundrum speculative data center requests pose for U.S. electric utilities. More than a year later, it’s unclear how much has changed. Community opposition has emerged as a major barrier to data center development, with other challenges including construction labor shortages, long lead times for critical electrical equipment, limited power availability in key markets and uncertainty…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in September that it will relinquish its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act, a tool previously used to tackle climate change. This effectively removes any limits on emissions from coal and gas plants and reduces the government’s ability to curb this pollution. When the carbon pollution standards for power plants were introduced under the Biden administration in 2024, the EPA said it expected the new rules to reduce greenhouse gas…

Global natural gas supply is likely to remain tighter than it should be until next summer at least, and it could cause prolonged demand destruction. Should this scenario materialize, it would deliver a severe blow to Europe, as it already struggles to cover its winter gas needs ahead of the official start of heating season—but Asia won’t be happy about it, either. The prediction comes from the International Gas Union, an industry association that covers 90% of the world’s gas producers. “The market right now is saying that…

Brazil is continuing to expand its renewable energy capacity thanks to favourable national policies and support from foreign investors. The South American giant has developed an impressive green energy industry in recent years, expanding its oil and gas production to strengthen energy security and establish its reputation as a regional energy hub. By 2025, Brazil had an impressively low-carbon energy mix, with around 50 per cent of its energy coming from renewable sources, including solar, wind, and bioenergy. Brazil has achieved this diversification…

With Kyrgyzstan set to begin a two-year term on the UN Security Council at the end of this year, the Central Asian nation’s president, Sadyr Japarov, sent some barbs and props to President Donald Trump in a speech at the General Assembly. Japarov’s September 22 address made it clear that Bishkek sides with China on the matter of reforming the United Nations, with the aim of altering the balance of power within the institution to diminish Western influence.  “Today the world has changed,” Japarov stated. To reflect that…

Natural gas output in the United States is expected to reach record highs in 2026 and 2027, as the country ramps up production and seeks to fill the gap created by restrictions on energy trade through the Strait of Hormuz. However, as the U.S. doubles down on its gas ambitions, a judge has ruled that a North Carolina gas power plant should not proceed. Both the supply and demand of U.S. natural gas are expected to rise to record highs this year and next, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Dry gas production is expected…

Nigeria has ambitious energy plans for the coming decades, including expanding its oil industry and accelerating the development of its renewable energy sector. In recent years, Nigeria has begun to solidify its position as a major energy power in Africa. This led the International Energy Agency (IEA) Governing Board to decide in June to welcome Nigeria as an Association country. Nigeria joins South Africa, Kenya, and Senegal as an IEA Association country in sub-Saharan Africa.  To solidify the agreement, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol…